


it's all for the cats

by TheLamestFad



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pre-Slash, otabek owns a cat cafe, though it's not really mentioned, yuri has a huge crush, yuri is a tattoo artist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-06 07:40:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11596035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLamestFad/pseuds/TheLamestFad
Summary: “The café had nothing to do with it? I don’t believe that for a second.”“Of course I don't mind that it's there,” Yuri offers as nonchalantly as possible when Viktor catches up to him inside the building, looking out of breath and annoyed. “I love cats. You know that.”“Right. It’s all for the cats. How silly of me,” Viktor replies with a raised eyebrow.





	it's all for the cats

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't posted anything in like a million years but here i am again with this tiny au fic ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿  
> i wrote this originally as a potential idea for the otayuri anthology zine but i couldn't keep it within word count, so here it is instead, hahaha  
> anyways, please enjoy!

“Are you sure there isn't any reason you want to open up shop next to this particular café?” Viktor asks him slyly one morning as they’re moving boxes into Yuri’s recently rented real estate. Or at least, _Yuri_ is moving boxes. Viktor is just following him around and pestering him under the pretense of helping. Honestly, the asshole thinks he’s being subtle, but instead Yuri just wants to punch him in his perfectly glistening teeth because he _knows_ what Viktor is trying to imply.

“I’ve told you,” he sighs, scooping another box out of the moving truck he’d borrowed and heading back towards his front door in hopes of leaving Viktor behind. He’s followed through the entrance anyway of course, so he continues his thought without any prompting. “The price is good, the neighborhood is good, and with the apartment upstairs, I can finally move out of my current place, which I hate, and be literally upstairs if something happens. You’re reading way too much into this,” he finishes when he sees the _look_ Viktor is giving him.

“I just think you’re not being honest with yourself,” Viktor pouts, still trailing behind Yuri as he brings boxes into his new shop space like a duckling following its mother. “The café had _nothing_ to do with it? I don’t believe that for a second.”

Yuri rolls his eyes, pausing where he stands in front of the open truck back to count swiftly back from ten to help him keep hold of his slipping patience. Then he turns and shoves a box into Viktor’s open arms, ignoring his squawk of surprise and indignation so he can grab another for himself before he heads back into his store.

“Of course I don't mind that it's there,” Yuri offers as nonchalantly as possible when Viktor catches up to him inside the building, looking out of breath and annoyed. “I love cats. You know that.”

“Right. It’s all for the cats. How silly of me,” Viktor replies with a raised eyebrow. Yuri refuses to take the bait, looking away pointedly and not answering any more of Viktor’s questions until he changes the subject.

Eventually, Viktor leaves, and Yuri heaves a sigh of relief. He did wind up helping Yuri bring in boxes, even though he moaned and complained the whole time, and as a result, Yuri’s almost completely got the whole shop front moved in and ready to be unpacked. That’s not speaking for his apartment though, which he hasn’t even touched, but honestly he’s not in too much of a rush even so. His rent’s not due again until the end of the month, so he’s got time.

He steps back outside into the mounting summer heat, planning to lock up the truck so he can start working more inside, and stops short, just outside his new front door. His next door neighbor is just opening up shop, unlocking the door and stepping out into the sun with a broom to begin sweeping his terrace down for outside diners. He glances up and sees Yuri staring, and raises a hand in hello. Yuri almost swallows his heart, which is suddenly in his throat, and he jerkily raises his hand to wave back before hurrying over to the truck. When he sees himself in the driver’s side mirror, it’s as bad as he thought it would be; his face is flushed an unattractive red, and he has to take a deep breath to center himself before he can walk back to his own front door.

Okay, so _maybe_ he had been lying when Viktor asked him about his reasons for moving to this particular location.

Glancing back over to the café front, Yuri sees that his next door neighbor is occupied with his sweeping, so he makes a beeline for his own front door, locking himself in and leaning against the wood with a sigh of relief. He might’ve, maybe, possibly, had a _very slight crush_ on the man who ran the business he now shared a property line with.

The owner of the café, a man a few years older than Yuri named Otabek, had opened the shop with the help of the local no-kill shelter, which had an extreme overpopulation of cats. So Otabek had borrowed fifteen of the cats, and used the café as a meeting location for potential buyers. All borrowed cats had been adopted within the first two weeks, but Otabek had kept the café going, replacing the cats as they got taken home, so there was always a reason for people to come back.

Yuri had first visited the café the very day it opened, proud to be one of the first customers supporting such a great cause, and had promptly made a gigantic fool of himself by tripping over his own feet when he caught sight of Otabek, standing attractively at the counter with his undercut and his brooding appearance, surrounded by the most fluffy, friendly cats the shelter had to offer. Otabek had rushed over as fast as dodging that many cats would let him, and helped Yuri to his feet, smiling lightly as he casually mentioned that Yuri was his first customer of the day. That slight upturn of lips had been the last straw, the dimple that appeared on his right cheek Yuri’s undoing.

He admits that he’s been completely hung up on Otabek ever since that first day, when they had sat and talked, surrounded by cats, about Otabek’s motivation and reasons for opening the café. Yuri had even taken to going back to the café every weekend, even if he never really got a chance to talk to Otabek again as his place got more popular. When the shop that had been next to Otabek’s closed and the property went back up for rent, Yuri had jumped on it with an enthusiasm that would’ve been embarrassing had anyone but the realtor seen it (don't get him wrong — it had still been massively embarrassing — just less so than it could've been).

Now though, Yuri just feels like a massive idiot. For one, Otabek probably doesn’t even remember him; Yuri hadn’t even adopted one of the cats. Two, if Otabek _does_ remember him, Yuri is just going to look like a massive creep. He really hadn’t thought this through, he realizes as he scrubs his hands across his face in exasperation.

He pushes himself away from where he’d still been leaning against the door with a sigh but he barely gets more than a foot into the shop proper before something makes him stop. There’s a very slight scratching sound, coming from the door he’d just abandoned, and he turns to look at it apprehensively. It doesn’t _seem_ like a sound a murderer would make, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely out of the question. Granted, it _is_ just past eleven in the morning, and there’s no one outside the small window set into the door, but that just makes it even more creepy. He steels himself, taking a deep breath, before he swings the door open as fast as he can. The cat on the other side flinches at the violent movement, shrinking to make itself less of a target, but otherwise stays its ground, looking up at Yuri with it’s luminous blue eyes. Yuri stares back at it, the two caught in a quiet battle of wills until the cat meows loudly at him, breaking him out of his trance with a jolt of embarrassment.

What the actual hell is he doing, he wonders silently to himself, standing in the doorway and having a staring contest with a cat? He massages the back of his neck, glad no one is around to see him slowly losing his mind, before he turns his eyes back to the feline in question. It had made its way slowly into the doorway in his distraction and had begun sniffing around at the pile of boxes he had left just inside the entryway. He kneels down and sticks out a hand, which the cat eyes mistrustfully before it takes a step closer and begins sniffing at him instead. It seems to deem him worthy, because it begins butting its head against his hand and purring, so he pets the poor beast obligingly. It melts under his hand, becoming a cat shaped puddle in his front entryway, flipping onto its back and offering him its belly.

“What, you think I’m stupid?” Yuri smirks, looking between the cat’s face and its exposed stomach with incredulity. The cat looks distinctly unimpressed at his lack of action, and meows loudly at him. “I know better than that, you monster. I’m not letting you claw up my hands; they’re my livelihood,” Yuri explains, then realizes that he is, once again, interacting with the cat as if it were a human, and rolls his eyes at himself.

“Where did you come from, anyway…?” Yuri mumbles, reaching his hand slowly towards its collar. The cat doesn’t react, save to watch his hand and swish its tail about, so he grabs the collar and turns it so he can read the tag. “Potya, huh? And you’re… _oh_ , you’re one of _his_ cats…” Yuri realizes as he reads the info on the tag, and already he feels warm just from the very thought of his crush. It’s a little pathetic.

He stays there, kneeling in the entryway of his shop for more minutes than he cares to count, hiding his red face in his hands, stalled from indecision. Does he grab the cat and make his way next door? It’s past the café’s opening time now, so surely Otabek must be busy. He does have a few other employees, Yuri knows, but if no one’s noticed one of the cats is missing by now, then surely they won’t for a while.

“What should I do with you…?” Yuri asks Potya, peeking through his fingers at the cat, who seems to have lost any and all interest in him and has moved on to licking its front paws clean. It’s endearing to watch — Yuri always has been and always will be a cat person, though he’s never had the chance to own one before — and before long, he feels himself growing to like this invasive feline.

Seconds after Yuri has that thought, a knock on the door he’s still kneeling directly in front of scares him so badly he loses his balance and falls over, startling the cat in turn, who takes off further into the empty, box-strewn shop without a backward glance. Yuri straightens himself, puts on his most intimidating scowl, and whips the door open, intent on giving whoever is on the other side a piece of his mind. He stops short, however, because of course who should be on the other side but—

“Uh, sorry to bother you,” Otabek says, looking incredibly self-conscious and adorably awkward. “But I’m from the café next door, and we seem to be missing one of our cats. You wouldn’t happen to have seen her, by any chance…?”

Yuri stares, taking in the way Otabek’s mouth moves around his words, the way he shifts a little from foot to foot, the way he clenches and unclenches his fingers, as though he’s trying desperately not to fidget with them, all his nervous little ticks. Yuri wants to stand there forever, to take in the image of Otabek before him, but he realizes abruptly that he’s been staring without saying anything for longer than is socially acceptable and Otabek is starting to look concerned.

“Uh,” Yuri says, because he is brilliant at making himself a fool in front of this gorgeous man. “The cat! Right. Uh, yes, she’s here. Potya, right? She wormed her way in, but she took off when you knocked. Uh, this way,” Yuri points further into the shop, moving away from the door so Otabek can follow him in.

Otabek does so, looking incredibly relieved, “Oh, thank God. If she wasn’t here, I didn’t even know where else to begin looking. I’ve only been in this neighborhood myself for a few months, and the lady that owned this shop before you used to leave food out for the cats if they escaped,” he explains, holding a hand to his chest in a tender move that makes Yuri’s feel like it’s squeezing ever tighter around his heart. Clearly, spending too much time with Otabek will actually be bad for his health; Yuri needs to get him out as quickly as possible.

They find her sitting halfway up the stairs leading up to what will eventually be Yuri’s apartment in the very back of the shop, tucking herself into a small loaf and looking down on them with the imperial eyes of someone meant to be there. Yuri already likes her attitude, but Otabek isn’t impressed.

“Potya,” he calls, sounding stern. She turns to look at him, but otherwise makes no move to get up from her spot. “Puma Tiger Scorpion. Come here.”

Yuri had been listening with half an ear to Otabek’s vain attempts to call the cat to him, but the last bit made his ears perk up with an unholy glee, and he whips his head around to stare at Otabek. There’s a bit of pink on his cheeks, like calling the cat by it’s full name is somehow embarrassing, but Yuri only registers this in passing, too exciting to really think about it too hard.

“Her name is _what_?” he demands, feeling giddy, because _damn_ , someone had good taste.

Otabek’s flush deepens, and Yuri takes a moment to appreciate the view.

“It’s uh,” he coughs into his fist, as though he’s trying to avoid answering, but eventually he caves, finishing, “Puma Tiger Scorpion. She was brought to the shelter from a family that was moving to an apartment that didn’t allow pets. We call her Potya for short.”

 _So we don’t have to say her actual name aloud_ is very much implied in Otabek’s last sentence.

That clinches it. Yuri is adopting a cat.

“You can just leave her,” Yuri says with a smirk. Otabek starts to protest, but Yuri cuts him off before he can say much. “I’ll adopt her.”

Otabek closes his mouth with a click, looks Yuri up and down as though seeing him for the first time, and Yuri can feel himself slowly becoming more tense as his nerves return. Then, Otabek smirks back at Yuri, and he can feel his face burning almost immediately.

“Alright,” Otabek says, shrugging a shoulder. “I’ll run back to the café and grab her papers. Have you ever owned a cat before, Yuri?”

Yuri starts at the sound of his own name. He wasn’t expecting it, and he’s about to ask Otabek how he knows it but then a vague memory surfaces, of Yuri’s first trip to the café when he’d introduced himself and holy shit, Otabek actually remembers him. Yuri is stunned speechless, but somehow manages to shake his head in response to Otabek’s question; no, he’s never owned a cat before. Otabek nods back, and sees himself back to the front of the shop, and Yuri is pretty sure he doesn’t even manage to breathe again until he hears the front door close. He turns to look at Potya, who’s already staring at him with her wide eyes, and groans pathetically, draping himself up the stairs so he’s at eye level with her before he speaks.

“What should I do, Potya?” he whines at the cat. “He’s like, really hot and he remembers my name.”

She meows at him in response, and licks him on the nose. He laughs loudly, surprised, and Potya moves her head away from him in distaste, giving him a dirty look for the noise.

“Sorry,” he apologizes, still grinning. He runs his fingers over the soft fur on the top of her head in apology. “But seriously, what should I do? I didn’t think he’d actually remember me…”

“Why wouldn’t I remember you?” Otabek’s voice asks from the foot of the stairs, and both Yuri and Potya jump a foot in the air, Yuri twisting around the second he lands to face the intruder and Potya running to hide behind him, hissing the whole way. Otabek is smiling, honestly smiling, at Yuri’s reaction to his presence. In one hand, he’s got a sheath of papers, and in the other is a plastic bag. “You were one of my very first customers. Of course I remember you,” Otabek affirms, and Yuri can feel his accursed blush returning.

“Oh,” Yuri says, looking just about anywhere but at Otabek. “Are those Puma’s papers?” he asks desperately, wanting to change the subject to literally anything else.

Otabek glances down at the things in his hands, as though he only just remembered he was holding them.

“Oh, yes,” he affirms, and lifts the hand holding the plastic bag. “And this is some stuff for her, since you said you never had a cat. A food and water dish, a couple of cans of food and some toys… we didn’t have any extra litter boxes, so you’ll have to get one of those yourself. Sorry about that.”

“No, no this is great!” Yuri replies, moving down the stairs with Potya on his heels so he can grab the stuff from Otabek’s hands. He brings them back towards the front of the shop, and sets everything down on the empty counter display. Ten minutes later, after filling out his info multiple times and being told where to sign, Yuri is now the proud owner of one Puma Tiger Scorpion.

During the adoption process, Potya had taken to sitting across Yuri’s shoulders, looking arrogantly down at the world like they were ants under her feet, and Yuri swears he never thought himself capable of loving an animal this much. Otabek watches them interact with a smile on his face, and when Yuri walks him to the door so he can go file Potya’s paperwork, he pauses.

“Thanks for taking her in,” he says, looking between Yuri and his new cat affectionately. “She doesn’t really take well to new people, so she must really like you. I’m glad she found someone that makes her happy,” he reaches up to pat Potya goodbye, which she allows with only a mild sound of annoyance, though Yuri winces when her claws dig into his shoulder.

Otabek stops once more, his hand on the doorknob and his foot on the outside step, to lean back onto the shop and say with a smirk, “By the way, I think you’re really hot too,” before he’s gone.

At that moment, Yuri is pretty sure the only thing keeping his soul grounded in his body is the sharp pain of his new cat digging her claws into his arm.

And as it turns out, Otabek Altin _is_ going to be the death of him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i might add more to this later, because i honestly have a lot of ideas for this au verse, but we'll see ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> if you enjoyed it, please leave a kudo or a comment! they're how i get by :'D  
> my life has been incredibly hectic lately, but here's my tumblr if anyone wants to drop me a line; thelamestfad


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